Adrien Rouquette

Who was Adrien Rouquette?

Adrien Rouquette was a writer and a Catholic missionary among the Choctaw Native Americans.

His interest in the Choctaws began in his youth. He was sent north in 1824 to divert his mind from them. In 1829 he was sent to France and finished his collegiate studies in Paris, Nantes, and Rennes, winning his baccalaureate in 1833. He returned to New Orleans, and spent much time alone or among his Choctaw friends. Later he returned to Paris to study law, but preferred literature, and returned to Louisiana. In 1842 he made a third visit to France, where he published his first poetic essay, Les Savannes. This was well received and he returned to Louisiana to become editor of Le Propagateur Catholique. Before long he was ordained priest. Assigned to duty at the St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, he served for fourteen years as a priest in the city, then suddenly, in 1859, he severed all connection it and made his home for twenty-nine years as a missionary among the Choctaws on the banks of Bayou Lacombe.